As a Sovereign Explorer I think that it is important to question many things we take for granted. How valid are the beliefs that were developed to control us spiritually; create separation and polarizing division; set race disrespecting race, male and female disrespecting each other; the strong disrespecting the weak, the rich disrespecting the poor and humanity disrespecting other species that share this world with us.

Instead of blindly allowing ourselves to become polarized over some issue, do we ever stop and think about what caused that issue in the first place? Do we ever wonder how we could contribute to the harmony and balance in a situation instead of causing more separation through our thinking or our actions?

In doing the research for my book I was shocked at a great deal of the information I discovered and it rocked my boat of beliefs in a big way. I want to share an excerpt from my book in this blog as a way of illustrating the way that beliefs can creep into the lives of people and become powerful forces to be reckoned with.

This excerpt is taken from Part One-The Ruse of Our Fathers, Chapter One: “Oh What Tangled Webs We Weave-“

Practically every detail of the recognized story of Jesus Christ that forms the foundational teachings and doctrine upon which the Christian Churches of today are built was taken from the mythologies of the pre-Christian era. These are teachings that were in vogue at the time Jesus supposedly lived. (The information preceding this paragraph in the book describes the mythologies in existence that defined the pre-Christian “Sons of God”-Osiris, Mithras, Dionysus, Heracles, etc. teaching about the Virgin Birth, Crucifixion, announcement of their births by wise men bringing gifts, healing the sick, walking on water-etc. The extent of the information is too much to put in this blog just some of the background information to help illustrate the point I want to make).

It doesn’t make sense that Jesus would be killed for teaching what was already being taught. Something in his teachings had to be radical enough to incite a movement and to send people into hiding to practice these new beliefs after his death and be willing to die for them, or is there an entirely different explanation?

Freke & Gandy in their book The Jesus Mysteries offer a fascinating and plausible explanation to this mystery. They explain that the Jews were repeatedly conquered by other nations, and the integration of Jewish and pagan culture happened over centuries of time. According to these authors, it was very common for the pagan religions to localize a deity to make that deity more palatable to the indigenous population. The book goes into great detail about the history of the Jews and their absorption into the various societies that had originally conquered them. At the same time, Jews worked very hard to maintain their identity as Jews. The authors explain that “By the time that Jesus was supposed to have lived, Galilee was surrounded by Hellenized cities, which were the home of eminent pagan philosophers and centers for the Mysteries of Dionysus.” The Jews believed that a Messiah would come and free them from the occupations that they had endured. In order to attempt to integrate the Jews, a Jewish “god-man” was created and given a Jewish name. So Jesus became the dying god man and the Messiah of the Jews, a composite figure with a story fabricated to integrate the Jews into the pagan religions with a story of their own. Ironically, the Jews would have no part of this scheme and ultimately dismissed the story that Jesus was their savior.

The Mystery religions taught initiates in increments. The Outer Mysteries told a story of a dying-god man who was resurrected as a savior, but as the initiate was taken deeper into the Mysteries, they learned that this story was not an actual historical event but rather an allegory for the individual’s journey on earth, as each of us is a “god-man/woman.” The Inner Mysteries taught the initiate the way toward Inner Knowing or Gnosticism. Freke and Gandy go on to explain that out of the Inner and Outer Mysteries arose two different schools of thought, Literalist and Gnostic.

The Outer Mysteries became the beginnings of the Literalist movement which has morphed into our fundamental religions. The Literalists taught that the story of Jesus actually happened and salvation happened through believing in Him. They were fanatical about having all others believe the same. The Gnostics took a mystical approach teaching that one must seek direct experience of the Divine, or Gnosis (knowing), and that Gnosis could happen through deeper exploration of the Mysteries. The initiate would learn to transcend matter through this deeper knowing. The Literalists were intolerant of other’s beliefs; the Gnostics were tolerant because they better understood the progression of evolution of a person’s spirituality.

When the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) set the Universal or Catholic Church in motion, they used and strongly enforced the Literalist interpretation. Over time it became the predominant belief system, and followers dedicated themselves to eradicating any belief system that contradicted their teachings. As the centuries progressed, the Gnostic or mystical version of Christianity went underground and became secret, as those who were Gnostics faced persecution and death for their beliefs.

Why would Constantine and the Church fathers use the literalist interpretation of Christianity as the Church of State? One would think that many were aware of the teachings of the Inner Mysteries. Constantine himself had pagan beliefs. Some interesting insight into this question comes from The Jesus Mysteries. First it is explained that the Roman Emperors needed “one faith,” a universal religion. Several had been tried, but without success.

In the first half of the fourth century Emperor Constantine tried Christianity. It was an ideal candidate for the role. The Romans needed a Mystery religion because they were always popular with the people. But Mystery religions were led by mystics and philosophers, who had the audacity to question and undermine the authority of the state. Literalist Christianity, however, was a Mystery religion that had purged itself of all its troublesome intellectuals. It was already an authoritarian religion, which encouraged the faithful to have blind faith in those holding positions of power. It was exactly what the Roman authorities wanted-a religion without mystics, the Outer Mysteries without the Inner Mysteries, form without content.

So the Catholic Church under the auspices of Constantine added Jesus of Nazareth to a long list of deities with the same mythology. This gave the church a way to unite a plethora of beliefs under one universal belief system, aid in uniting the Roman Empire, both church and state, under one government system, and bestow full control of the Roman Empire on Constantine.

Whether or not Jesus lived, was crucified, or taught an entirely different message, Constantine and his cronies became the founders of the belief system of Christianity that exists today that is ascribed to Jesus Christ.

As I continued to uncover material, I became more intrigued with the idea of how deep the ramifications of the Literalist/Gnostic polarity dug into our belief systems and later in Chapter One a new heading emerged titled A Deeper Look at the Conservative/Liberal Dichotomy. I will share an excerpt of that realization below.

If one looks long and hard at the continuum of beliefs that contributes the most to maintaining rigid, control-driven belief systems, one will find some or all of the following characteristics: belief in an authoritative god who is believed to be male; male supremacy and domination; rationalize and resort to war very quickly; rational, linear, logical, literal thinking; justification of exploitation of people and the earth’s resources for whatever cause is currently in vogue; strong resistance to change of any kind; fundamental, dogmatic, literal religious beliefs; exclusivist ideologies, both national and religious; and the support of the growth of big business at the expense of the individual – to name a few. As we look at these characteristics just listed, we can now recognize them as Conservative political philosophy, the ideological descendant of the Literalists.

To get a glimpse of what is needed to balance that continuum of beliefs, we only need to look at counter characteristics: belief in a Universal Source with both masculine and feminine characteristics and/or a supreme being or All That Is that is beyond gender; equality and partnership of the sexes; inclusion of the intuitive process in decision making; recognition and acceptance into our belief systems of dimensions beyond our five senses; fair treatment for all; strongly vested in finding peaceful, win-win solutions; metaphorical, expansive, inclusive spirituality, and thinking; concern for the survival of the global community, not just national survival; diffuse, holistic thinkers; nonlinear, creative thinking; responsible ecological stewardship of earth’s resources and fair trade policies that do not exploit; and practice of the Golden Rule in all endeavors. I see these ideological traits as descending from the Gnostic beliefs into our Liberal thinkers.

If one takes a good long look at the way the United States especially is structured, you will see a strong overlay or blanket of belief that has all the characteristics of the Literalists. These characteristics are blatantly apparent in the bureaucratic systems that govern this country, the “good ole boy” networks that are rampant in our legal system, as well as medicine, science, and our government, as well as the leadership of most of our large corporations. Many of our global corporations have become behemoths of control that rival dictators of old.

If we mentally travel back in time to the Middle-Ages and the Dark Ages, we will be reminded of the noble and serf way of life. People lived and worked to serve the nobility. They farmed the land and paid taxes or worked the land for the nobility and were given pittance to live on. This way of life kept the serfs trapped in a life of servitude. How do we make servitude appealing? With religious doctrines of sacrifice and service, of course.

This model of civilization has followed us through time, only now the middle and lower economic classes work to feed the corporate behemoths. The monarchs of these behemoths are the CEO’s..

I think it is helpful to understand the dynamics of how we became prisoners of our belief systems; and important to become aware of the powerful forces that have us in their control and to understand why we are being controlled.

The first step in making any change is the realization that something is amiss and needs changing. This will put us on a trajectory toward a new paradigm that will ultimately free us from the tyranny of beliefs that hold us prisoner.

For our liberation to take place we have to become aware of how imprisoned we are by our beliefs and of those who control and perpetuate them. Until we recognize how confined we are we will continue to play into the hands of those who wish to use us and all our natural resources for their own greedy purposes.

This is not about being a liberal or a conservative a literalist or a gnostic. It is about being stuck in belief systems that cause separation and polarization and all the inhuman acts that come from polarization and “better than” thinking. Humanity is in this together.we either take care of each other and our precious resources or we all lose. The choice is ours collectively.

Our monumental task is to create a world that is more unified in courteous and humane treatment for all while respecting diversity of ideas and cultures. WE must choose to draw out and perpetuate the HEART-CENTERED beliefs and practices of each culture. Many indications are pointing to a heart-centered focus as the new foundation being prepared for at this time. I don’t know how much actual construction has been started on this foundation. We may be just gathering the components, but this new paradigm is on the horizon and gaining momentum.

Power and greed will be the nemesis to a heart-centered world view, but regardless of what the Supreme Court says Corporations are not persons and Persons: individual, sovereign, independent persons–have innate abilities that when activated will have far more impact on the human species than all the power and greed and corporations in the world.

I have become aware of the trajectory that holds the guidance to understand how to activate a Heart-Centered focus in my own life and that activation has become my focus of exploration. I am convinced that as the Heart-Centered paradigm takes root and begins to grow it is destined to be the most powerful and life-giving force on the earth. To that end my focus is set-I see that Heart-Centered Paradigm-a beautiful silhouette on the horizon. My website, any future books I will write, blogs I will share will in some way contribute to drawing closer to that exquisite horizon.